


In The End

by starkravingmad (stark_raving_mad)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Civil War Team Iron Man, Gen, Natasha Romanov Has Issues, Not Natasha Romanov Friendly, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), You Decide, because it's not me anymore it's a fucking bodysnatcher, do I even have to say that?, how many members of team cap die?, if i'm ever not team iron man you can bury me, not team Cap friendly, pretty sure there's a lot of fic under that tag, the issues being she's a sociopath, why is that not a tag that comes up?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:46:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28251870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stark_raving_mad/pseuds/starkravingmad
Summary: What if Bucky didn't actually kill the Starks? What if that was just another conspiracy, the product of some false memories and very clever editing? Would that matter?Hint: no, it wouldn't.
Comments: 30
Kudos: 215





	In The End

**Author's Note:**

> read part of a really fucking dumb fic where apparently bucky being a murderer is a-okay as long as he didn't kill tony's parents and where steve being a lying liar who lies is a-okay once we find out that bucky isn't actually the one responsible for tony's parents' deaths. I mean, steve still thought he was the murderer tho, and he still lied about it, and then was a hypocrite to tony for "keeping secrets" and then beat tony half to death and.....need I go on?
> 
> so I rage wrote this in less than an hour. sorry if you are subscribed to my other fic i am working on that but you know, sometimes you get the muse, and the muse is angry, and there is blood.

"Tony," says the Itsy Bitsy Liar, in a soft voice just barely tinged with emotion, just enough to make it seem like a true emotional breakthrough, when really it was another of her endless, endless manipulations.

He doesn't turn around, just keeps staring at the meticulously maintained gravestone that marks the resting place of his mother's body. _Beloved mother, loving wife..._

He would be shocked at the audacity of the bitch to come disturb him as he pays his respects to his poor, murdered parents, but he finds that not much shocks him any longer. It's amazing that his capacity for trust survived Obie, but _nothing_ could survive Steve - truly the pinnacle of humanity; even his betrayals were second to none.

"Tony," she beseeches him again. "I have something you should see."

"What."

Not a question, not really, because he knows the essence of whatever it is she's going to say, if not the specifics. In sum, she will try to bat her eyes as though they would have any effect on a man who has been dealing with gold diggers since his youth, she will swear she's brought him some new piece of evidence because they're _friends_ , they're _**family**_ , and she'll ask him to set aside the memory of his dead mother in favor of his father's favorite relic. Well, fuck that.

"It didn't make sense to me, that the Winter Soldier would get caught on camera. He's a ghost story. So I went to go see Zemo, and after a lot of talking, he told me something interesting. I guess he didn't think it would make it back to you." She's forced to skip past the simpering since he refuses to look at her, so instead she tries to draw his interest, drop a little hint of 'haha isn't Zemo so silly, of course I'd tell you, since we're such good _**friends**_.' The sad thing is, he probably would've fallen for the act, pre-Capsicle and his best murder buddy beating him into the ground and leaving him for dead in the frozen wastes of Siberia. He knows better now.

She lets the silence linger for a beat, then two, clearly still hoping he'll turn around and give her something more than his back to work with.

"The video you saw - it wasn't real. The chair they used to keep the Winter Soldier compliant could do more than that; it could implant memories, like the ones he thinks he has of your parents."

There are footsteps, then, the sound of her cautiously edging closer as she tells him, "It's all on this USB. You can see for yourself."

He turns around then, slapping her hand out of his face and shoving her a space back. He relishes the look on her face, genuine shock for once, characterized by the stiffness of her face as she frantically tries to figure out what the appropriate way to react is, how she can manipulate this to play into her own agenda. If she were even half as smart as she thinks she is, she would already have figured out there's nothing she can do to him, not now. "Who cares what Zemo said, Natashalie, huh?"

That's when she actually freezes in place, so caught off guard she has absolutely no idea how to react, and the only movement is the subtle widening of her eyes as she starts to panic.

"So the video is fake. You only figured that out now, when you went to go see Zemo. But two years ago, you and the good Captain both thought it was true, both thought that his precious Bucky murdered my parents in cold blood, and you didn't think that was worth mentioning to me."

"I didn't...I thought he'd told you," she finally stammers, a weak defense not befitting the famed Black Widow.

He laughs in her face. "No, you didn't. You can tell yourself that if it helps you sleep better at night, but you knew he wouldn't."

The sheer stupidity that was his support of the Avengers might belie it, but he was, after all, a genius. Knowing what Bucky Barnes was responsible for put Lagos into context, put all of the stupid, senseless "missions" the remnants of the Avengers plus their useless little wingman went on into context. A fruitless search for Hydra's best weapon, now loose like a rabid dog.

"I don't care if he murdered my parents. I don't care if he rots in hell or freezes to death or chews off his remaining arm. It doesn't matter. They're dead, and he's a murderer, whether he killed my parents or not. He's killed countless others, including an innocent guy who had the bad luck of owning a motorcycle in Barnes' vicinity. What matters is that you thought he killed my parents, and you lied about it. Steve lied about it. You can't change that. You could resurrect my parents right now, and it wouldn't change that."

This close, he can see her pupils, the way they blow out wide from her panic. She can control most of her expressions, but she can't change the way her body reacts to danger.

Softly, but with none of that fake emotion, he finishes, "You can't save the Avengers. When you made the choice to protect a murderer, you went against the very core of the Avengers Initiative. Doesn't take a hero to lie and obstruct justice. People can empathize with wanting to protect your friend, sure. But can they trust someone who'd lie to his friend about the murder of his parents? Do whatever you want, Natashalie. Just leave me out of it."

He turns and walks away.

**Author's Note:**

> there's only 42 pages of the not team cap friendly tag but it's not "common" enough for ao3. someone's sucking some sad cap dick huh


End file.
